Osmos V
by Pen-to-Page
Summary: After defeating Dagon, the trio is visited by a strange alien who requests Kevin's help. There is a civil war on the osmosian planet, between those who suck energy and those who are sane. Will Kevin be able to help? What will he learn on his journey. Some Gwevin. Hope you like it. Rated T for safety (may sometime be some sex, but not graphic)
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey, Author here. Hope you like the story. Just gonna brief y'all that "Omniverse" does not happen. (Have not watched it, do not plan to). I might make mention of some facts from the show to try and keep it relevant but timeline wise this story picks up where we left the trio after they defeated Dagon. Hope you like it!**_

"Is that really all you guys have?" Ben asked phasing back into his human form. "Seriously, you aren't even fun to fight anymore."

The forever knights were all either knocked out or bound together by a large piece of bent metal.

"That's the last of these ones anyways." Kevin chimed in, dusting off his hands.

Since the defeat of Dagon, little had disturbed the trio in their little town. If anything did occur, it was other-worldly and easily solvable. Usually it was a job that could be accomplished by only one of them.

"So, now what?" Gwen was leaning up against Kevin's car, hoping that the rest of their day wouldn't go to waste.

Ben was about suggest a movie when the sound of a spaceship interrupted his words and thoughts. The whole trio jumped into action, and ran outside.

"Maybe it's far away?" Ben suggested.

"Nah, a sound that big we'd see something." Kevin looked at Gwen who was the one to say what the other two were thinking.

"So where's the ship?"

"Because, while efficient and safe, travelling via air compress tank does have a way of startling the natives with the noise." A voice that none of the three recognised. In unison they turned around to see a human standing in front of them. He was tall and well-built, with thinning hair and wrinkled features.

Ben thought that he might be the same age as grandpa max, or perhaps a little younger, "Good to know."

"Who are you?" Gwen asked the stranger.

"Forgive me," he spoke, "My name is Raylin. I have come to…"

"Seek help from the great Ben Tenyson?" Ben was always cocky about other worlds knowing of his superiority.

"Actually no. I'm here for Kevin Levin."

Ben dropped his jaw and looked at Kevin in amazement. They wanted him? For what? It was clear that the both Gwen and Kevin were also confused, neither looked certain of what was just said.

"Me?" Kevin asked, sounding a little less intelligent than normal.

"Yes, you." Raylin smiled. "I want your help."

"HIS help?" Ben asked. Gwen slapped his arm.

"Yes. You see, Kevin, we need you back on Osmos V."

"Me?"

Raylin's smile faded and his head tilted. "Yes, yes we want you. Ben Tenyson is a hero, but we need more osmosians."

Gwen piped up. "So you're…"

"An osmosian, yes. More than that really. I'm this lad's grandfather."

Kevin made a sort of noise that was between a whimper and a moan.

Since Kevin was unable to talk, Ben decided that he would ask the questions. "And you need Kevin why?"

"Oh, so sorry, perhaps I should have led with that. Our planet is at war."

"A war? What's happened?" Ben continued to be the voice.

"It's rather complicated, I'm afraid. You see, absorbing energy causes osmosians to go insane.."

"I know," Kevin found his voice, but spoke darkly. "I know because I went crazy twice, and you weren't so keen on telling me anything then."

"My dear boy, I didn't even know you existed until I heard that you defeated agregor. Speaking of, that's what this whole war is about. See, agregor started a revolution half a decade ago, and some osmosians ran around, absorbing energy where they can take it. It was controllable at first but now…now theres thousands of them, and their numbers grow everyday. Even with agregor gone, they are powerful. Those of us who are sane fear that the others will infiltrate other planets once they use up all the energy on Osmos."

"You want me to help?"

"We want you to fight." Raylin confirmed.

"Let's go then!" Ben smiled.

Raylin turned. "Well, Ben…we would be very thankful for your help, but on OsmosV we prefer to handle ourselves."

Gwen pointed out the flaw in this statement "But other people could help you solve the crisis. Ben and I.."

"No." This time, it was Kevin who spoke. "Gwen, you are not going to a planet filled with energy crazed osmosians. Besides, why should I help you?"

"Kevin, he's your grandpa! And it's your planet!" Ben cried.

"So? I grew up here. I never met him."

Raylin's whole face fell. He let out a sad slow sigh. "My fault too. Your father was an adventurer…he.."

"Look, I don't want to hear you tell me anything about my dad."

"I am sorry, Kevin. If you don't want to come you don't have to. I just hoped that you might be able to help us."

"I won't." Kevin said. Then he turned around and saw Ben glaring at him. "What?"

"This isn't the Kevin I know. I thought you liked a fight, and when Agregor was absorbing all that energy you were so intent on stopping him."

"So?"

"So I think you're mad at your grandpa, and that's why you aren't going." Ben leaned against his car and folded his arms. "Am I right?"

One look at Kevin's face confirmed his suspicion.

"Hold on!" he called after Raylin, "I'll uh…I'll come with you."

"We will too." Ben stepped forward, omnitrix bared.

Raylin let out a sigh. "Ben, imagine the devastation if an osmosian absorbed the energy in the omnitrix. And Kevin was right about not bringing your annodite friend. Between the two of you, there's too much energy. Besides," he turned to face Gwen, "Annodites are not allowed within the atmosphere of Osmos V."

"We've dealt with these things before." Gwen offered before Kevin shut her down again.

"No, Gwen. You aren't coming. You neither, Tennyson."

"I'm afraid it may take some time." Raylin mentioned. "The war has already gone on far too long.."

"Whatever, if we're going to do this.."

"I was only thinking you would want to say goodbye to your friends."

Kevin's face looked between the two Tennysons, finally falling on Gwen. He looked at her, knowing that she would go insane not knowing what was happening. He thought about leaving her, possibly for ever if this war claimed his life. The best option for him would be to leave immediately. No arguments. "Never been too good with goodbyes, let's just go." He did not look away from Gwen until he and Raylin began walking to the compress tank. The Tennysons joined him on the walk.

The tank was white with light blue lines across it where it looks to have been molded together. It was small, but would fit the two of them easily.

Kevin looked at Ben. "Tell my ma where I went." He looked back to Gwen, but found himself unable to say anything at all. He couldn't even move to embrace her. Saying goodbye made it feel as though there was an end to something. He found himself incapable of such a thought and, knowing that he had to say something, he looked at a spot above her head and said "See you."

The inside of the tank was much larger than the outside had let on. The floor was plush and there were chairs carved into the spherical wall. "How does this thing work?"

Raylin smiled "Simply plug in the coordinates and the ship summons air from the outside to propel it any which way we want. Takes an osmosian to work it. The transfer of matter through skin is not accomplished by any other being, and essentially, that is how this tank works."

Kevin's response was a simple nod. He had too much racing through his mind. He was still unsure about going off to a planet he'd never visited to fight in a war that might kill him. Earth had a lot more to offer him. He knew that it was the 'right' thing to do, the thing that he should be doing now that he was fighting with heroes. Kevin didn't consider himself a hero, but he understood that the other two members of the trio held him to the same regard as one. They expected him to be a hero, and he was often afraid of disappointing them.


	2. Chapter 2 part 1

_**Hey all! I'll try to update weekly. Here's the next capter! Hope you like it, review if you do!**_

The whole thing seemed like a blur to Gwen. As they walked to the-the-the weird spaceship that Raylin described, Gwen could only feel worry. Kevin had come a long way since joining their gang. Yes, there were some bumps in the road, but he had controlled himself time and again. Above her fear of him being in danger without her to protect him was the fear that he would lose control again, absorb energy; especially if there were hordes of other osmosians who would be pressuring him to do so. When they reached the tank, she was waiting for something. She wasn't sure what exactly, but she waited for Kevin to say goodbye to her. She waited for him to kiss her, she waited for him to hold her, she waited for him to say anything at all. When he finally said "See you," she understood that she should not have expected anything more.

When the tank sealed itself, the only thing Gwen could feel was a strange sense of loss. Something told her that she would not be seeing Kevin again. That thought, that emotion was what brought the tears to her eyes. She tried not to let them shed, she didn't want Ben to see, but she couldn't help herself, and the tears started to roll down her face silently.

Ben turned to her, and seemed to detect her pain. Instead of making some sarcastic remark, he pulled her into a hug. One that they never would have shared at the age of 9, but after their years of battling aliens and understanding each other felt like an embrace from a best friend. Gwen took the hug, but composed herself quickly and moved away looking emotionless.

"He's not gone forever…" were Ben's first attempts to consolidate her. When that showed no affect he tried to turn to humour. "Is it how he left? Without saying bye? I know…kindof a douche move…classic Kevin." But this calmed her no more than the previous.

"I just…I get this feeling that he's not coming back…"

Ben got serious "A manna feeling?"

Gwen hesitated, she was unsure of what was making her think this way. She shrugged her answer "I don't know. But I don't like it."

"Then let's go. Let's go to Osmos V"

Gwen shook her head. "No. Raylin was right. Imagine what would happen if thousands of energy crazed osmosians swarmed the omnitrix."

"We beat Kevin last time." Ben puffed out his chest.

"Barely, and there was only one of him."

"Then let's get grandpa Max. He'll know what to do."

At their grandfathers trailer they did not find the advice that they were hoping for.

"Ben, you can't get involved with another planet's war. It's a law. And you don't want to cross an osmosian by breaking the rules." Was all Grandpa Max had to say about the matter.

"What rules? Kevin's no rule follower." Ben protested.

"That's because he didn't grow up on Osmos V. There, the entire society runs by rules. They live very safely because of it. Technically speaking, Kevin's father broke the rules by becoming a plumber."

"It's against the rules to be a plumber?" Ben was shocked by this.

"Oh yes. Anything that puts an osmosian in a situation where they might absorb energy is against their rules."

Gwen and Ben exchanged looks. This seemed a little harsh. Especially since Kevin had been doing fine as a plumber until the agregor incedent.

"But we need to help him." Gwen stared at the floor. "What if we could help?"

"I'm sorry sweetheart. But Kevin's Grandad is right. You two have enough energy to take down the entire universe."

"You can't keep us here." Gwen stood up, arms folded. "We're going. Ben?"

Ben looked uneasy. This isn't the first time where he's been torn in making a decision between the universe and a friend. "Gwen….Grandpa's right. We can't go."

"But Kevin.."

"Can handle himself." Ben finished for her. "He's tough enough, and he'll fight a hard battle."

Gwen frowned but had to understand her cousin's logic. "We can help somehow." She added pathetically.

"No, Gwen. We can't."

Gwen looked back and forth between Ben and her grandfather. In her usual fashion she was not going to give up without a fight, but she could tell that there would be no further discussion today. She was determined to have the last word. "This isn't over."


	3. Chapter 2 part 2

**_Chapter two part two. Hope you like it! Reviews welcome. :)  
>_<em>**

The tank did not leave Earth directly. Kevin insisted that he pack a few things, so Raylin allowed him to stop by the garage. He grabbed some shirts and a change of pants, but paid more attention to what extra items he was grabbing. For instance, he was very careful to remember his Taydenite.

Although Raylin made several attempts to strike conversation with Kevin, the entire ride to Osmos V was silent. There was food on the ship, as well as a bathroom facility. Kevin discovered that by leaning back against his chair folded it out into a bed, which was made out of the comfiest material he had ever felt. For most of the ride he pretended to sleep.

They approached the planet of Osmos V within 12 hours flying at 10 lightyears per hour. What struck Kevin was its uncanny resemblance to Earth. The planet looked completely the same, except all the land was collected together. I looked like what Earth must have during Pangea, as scientists had grown to call it. The large green mass of land had a blue tinge to it, and the water surrounding it was almost greenish. Then, Kevin saw small spots appear from nowhere, grow, and fade out.

"Explosions." Raylin explained, seeing the confused look on Kevin's face. The tank made no move toward the evident problem.

"Where are we going?" Kevin asked "The problem is that way."

"You need to train first. I'm bringing you to my house. You will rest for a few days before I ask that you join the forces."

Kevin nodded. He wasn't sure what he was doing, or what was happening, but the best answer seemed to be to listen to Raylin Levin. The tank landed next to an open field with a large hill that changed between grass and rock.

"Where's your house?" Kevin asked looking around.

Raylin snapped his fingers and the hill in front of them opened up. They walked in.

Inside the mound there was an entire underground world. There were many people roaming around.

"We need to keep people hidden. The rebels are dangerous." Raylin explained, nonchalantly patting a small child on the head as they walked by. "Family units stay in pods around here, each about the size of a small house. It's not much."

They continued to walk and Kevin noticed heavy metal doors that looked like safes. Each had a letter followed by a 5 digit number and a name. They stopped at the door reading 'G 38465. Levin'.

"Homey." Kevin didn't know what else to say.

As the door swung inwards, Kevin heard someone calling. "I told you to call!" followed by footsteps headed their way. "I told you Raylin always call when you leave the…"

It was a woman, most likely Raylin's wife. She had dark grey hair and dark eyes, which Kevin noticed were flooded with tears. Raylin spoke up.

"Tina, this is Kevin."

Tina composed herself. "Of course you are." She smiled. "Well Kevin, welcome to our home. Make yourself comfortable, don't be shy."

Kevin walked into the landing and placed his bag down. He could still hear the couple arguing in the front hallway.

"I told you to call when you leave the hill. You could've been dead Ray."

"I know, but he's- he's our grandson and he took down agregor and I just thought that maybe…"

"Our grandson?! So I'm not crazy. Oh god, he really looks like Devin."

"I know. Shook me up a bit too."

Kevin wasn't intrinsically interested in their argument, and tried to look around the house. His eyes scanned the room which must have been intended to be a living room. However there were couches converted into beds and heaps of blankets on the floor. In the corner there was a little girl with black hair playing with marbles, absorbing them and shooting them into each other. She noticed him and ran up.

"Are you a good guy too?" She asked, looking up at him smiling.

Kevin shrugged. "I guess so."

"My name's Taylor. Grandpa says that we all have to stay in this hole. But he's allowed to leave, so's my mamma."

"Is that so." Kevin was uninterested. Children rarely had an effect on him. He figured that this little thing was his cousin.

"Yep. Momma's out with daddy fighting bad guys. They're coming home tomorrow."

"Uh-huh."

"Taylor, honey. Leave Kevin alone, he's come a long way to stay with us!" Tina called from the front hall.

Taylor made an impressive pout, but left Kevin to continue playing with her marbles. Tina came up beside him. "Sorry about that. She's very lonely." She folded her hands nervously. "Have you eaten? Would you like some chili, it was your father's favourite."

Kevin looked at her, she seemed to be a lot nicer than Raylin, and when she talked about his dad, she didn't make it seem like anything was wrong. "Sure. Love some."

After dinner Raylin led Kevin to a couch. "You can sleep here tonight. Tomorrow though, Maggie's gonna take it."

Kevin nodded and flopped onto the couch. It was made from the same material as inside the ship and was also very comfy. "What is this stuff anyway?"

"It's a special material manufactured here. It allows osmosians to absorb and release extra cushion to their liking. It read neurological impulses to see whether you're happy and adjusts itself to your liking. Wonderful isn't it?"

"Kindof is." And after Raylin left, it took almost no time at all for Kevin to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 3

**_Here it is! Sorry I'm a little late with this one! Hope you like it. As always, reviews are welcome.  
>_<em>**

Kevin woke the next morning to Tayler jumping on his chest. "Gramma told me to tell you that breakfast is ready!" She exclaimed as she bounced off, hit the floor and kept running.

He rubbed his eyes to take in his settings, paying closer attention to the house than he had the night before. He noticed a picture hung on the wall. In it was the Levin family, featuring what he assumed was a young version of his father, a black haired girl next to him, and the two parents restraining their children. He smelled bacon and something sweeter coming from the kitchen area and followed his nose until he found where he had eaten the night before. This morning there were two new people: a black haired woman who looked much like the girl in the photo, and a blonde man with broad shoulders. He was holding Tayler.

The black haired woman looked at Kevin "Geez mom, you weren't kidding. He really does look like Dev." She tried to smile but instead looked sad. "Sorry," She said to him, "He was my best friend."

This should have made Kevin feel something. He knew that he should have been sympathetic, happy that he resembled his father. Instead it was awkward. He sat down at the crowded table. The last 24 hours had all flown by so quickly. He knew that Ben was right, and that if it wasn't his Grandfather asking for his help that he would have joined. But something about Raylin didn't hit him quite right. Maybe it was his cold demeanor, or maybe it was the face that he got when talking about Kevin's dad. Maybe it was the fact that he felt abandoned by this man, this man who did not even know he existed.

The next day passed without much excitement. He learned more about the war, discovering from Raylin and his aunt (who he learned was named Maggie) that there were growing numbers of people who joined the revolution. There were currently approximately 3 million osmosians who were crazed with energy.  
>"I thought you said there were thousands!" Kevin interrupted upon hearing this.<p>

"There were thousands yesterday. The numbers grow exponentially." Maggie told him.

"So we're fucked no matter what we do?"

Raylin corrected him, "No, they are easy to beat, they see no plan, have no thought. What they have in strength we can outmatch with strategy and sanity."

"Look. I've done the whole energy thing. It's not that simple. Plans are great, but useless if your opponent can smash them."

"YOU'VE been on energy?" his aunt looked outraged. "Dad, he needs to go. He's like them."

"Mag, calm down. He's come out of that before. Twice I hear." Raylin offered Kevin a smile. "Maybe, maybe Kevin you could tell us what it's like to be crazed.." he noticed Kevin's scowl "That is to say mad with energy. Only to understand our opponents."

Kevin considered this. He was about to explain the hell he'd been trapped in when he stopped to think. "Shouldn't I be telling this to the colonel or somethin'. Aren't they in charge?"

Maggie straightened up. "You're looking at her. Colonel Levin. I suppose you bring up a fair point, dad. So Kevin. Tell us. What's it like to destroy everything in your path? Hm?"

"Well it's…" Kevin cleared his throat. "It's hellish, actually." Maggie gave out a harsh laugh. It sounded more angry than amused. "I mean it. It's like…." He struggled to find the words. "It's like you want to stop, and theres this whole idea you have of yourself and then….then there's what the rest of it's doing to you."

"Try again kid." Raylin said. "That doesn't make much sense."

"Well…when I was eleven it was like…in my head…" He let out a low sigh hoping that this next analogy wouldn't fall short on his aunt and grandfather. "It's like there were two people. One of them was who I really was and the other was a big scary guy. The big guy had me like chained up or something and I could see everything that was happening, but couldn't stop it. And the big guy went around doing whatever it wanted. It's like that…but…you're both yourself and the big guy who's keeping you away."

"So, you, yourself, your values…they were there?" Maggie asked.

"Sometimes.. but really weak. I'd know it was wrong but I didn't care. And then I would care….and then I wouldn't again."

Raylin patted his back. "That it?"

Kevin nodded. He didn't like talking about what it was like to be out of control. What it was like to be a monster.

"Kevin just confirmed that these people aren't thinking. They don't care about what they're doing. We have to kill them." Maggie was cold.

Kevin nodded. Someone was talking sense. Then Raylin interrupted. "But it isn't really them doing these things. It's the energy making them mad."

"But Dad, they chose to absorb energy. It's not like they had to or that they didn't know any better. They chose it on their own. They followed Agregor. What do you think, Kevin?"

Kevin was taken aback he hadn't expected to be called on. "You say they wanted to go crazy? If they knew the consequences and still didn't care...then I don't think that we can even fight these guys."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Raylin.

"I mean, these are some cold dudes. They don't give a damn about anyone. If they knew they would lose it…if they had the option of walking away…and still did it. I just think that these are the kinds of guys who wouldn't think twice even when they were sane."

Maggie looked at him "So, you think that this whole war is.."

"Doomed." Kevin clarified. "Absolutely a lost cause. Best thing to do is have everyone leave and then quarantine the planet."

Raylin shool his head. "No. This is our home. We can't leave…we need to be together so we can maintain our way of life."

"Your way of life?" Kevin was mostly confused. Aside from the osmosian products there was no reason why these people couldn't just go.

"Yes. We have strict rules, and if we go somewhere where those rules are not obeyed, it will be anarchy." Raylin explained.

"Oh, because it isn't anarchy right now?" Kevin sarcastically asked.

"Kevin," Maggie spoke "Our entire society worked because we had rules. If we disbanded, then there would be more 11 year old kids like you."

That explanation seemed to cut into Kevin like a knife. He let it pass though, without even acknowledging that it had hurt him at all. "But if these people started absorbing…they're just gonna do it again."

"Scratch the negativity. What's the plan?" Maggie smiled. In some ways she reminded him of Ben.

"I gave you a plan. Just cause you didn't like it…" Kevin began. "Besides, aren't you the colonel?"

Maggie clenched her jaw. "Yes, but this war has gone on for years. It never hurts to hear new ideas." She looked expectantly at Kevin.

Kevin sighed. What would BEN do? He thought to himself. Ben always found a way to be the hero, even when they were outnumbered or overpowered. Kevin never tried to put himself on the same spectrum as the Tennysons. He knew that he was not like them, or like his late father.

All his life people expected him to act a certain way. When he was younger he remembered always being compared to his father, who gave his life to defend a planet. In turn, that meant that nothing he did was ever enough for his mom. At least, it never felt like it. If it was enough, she would have stopped crying all the time. If it was enough, she wouldn't have married Harvey. Then, there was the time that she caught him absorbing energy from the television. She yelled at him for what felt like eternity, and ended by saying "Your father would be so upset." And that's when he decided to run away. Then, people expected him to be bad. Not like it was easy to disappoint people there. Because he wanted to be bad. Even after escaping the null void he was bad. Then what? He helps out an old enemy hoping to score with the redhead, and suddenly he's a bonna-fide hero. Now he was feeling the same sort of pressure again. But this time from people who didn't even know him.

He thought really hard before he made his next answer, and when he did, he knew it was the one that Ben would have given. "We just have to fight them. But not fuck up." That sounded like something that Ben would suggest. It had no real plan and seemed to call more on strength.

"You just said that we would lose." Maggie reminded him.

"So we fight harder." Kevin slammed his fist on the table. "And we gather more troupes and we send them in at unexpected times. We go in with rubber, because it won't react to the electricity, and we hope that they didn't absorb anything more than electronics."

"We've been doing that, genius." Maggie said.

"How about marbles?" came a tiny suggestion from a tiny girl.

Maggie whipped around. "Tayler, I told you: stay with gramma while I talk with these guys."

"She has a point." Kevin said. "Marble wouldn't take the shock of electricity; it's basically glass. If we took enough armor it would still be hard enough to be a battle suit."

"The armour would only cover about an inch deep. That's not enough." Maggie said.

Kevin reflected on this. "How about taydenite?"

Maggie looked up. "That could work. But we wouldn't have enough."

"You can absorb tons of it at a time though, can't you?" Kevin asked. "This guy volcanus once made me take enough until I was growing pillars off my back."

Maggie was momentarily thrown off, but then seemed to consider this option. "We'd have to go and get it from somewhere, but that would prove to be an affective armour."

"Don't need to leave. I brought some with me." Kevin took the small crystalline gem from his pocket.

"That?" Maggie almost laughed. "You're cute. That won't cover more than an arm."

"Covers me." Kevin demonstrated, and received shocked looks from his grandfather and aunt. "What?"

"It's just…not enough." Raylin said. Taking the gem from Kevin, he showed that it only covered up to his shoulder. "It shouldn't be covering you that much."

"Lemme try!" Tayler whined reaching for the gem.

Maggie looked frustrated. "Sweetie, go play with daddy."

Tayler pouted. "But I want to play with the diamond." And before anyone could stop her, she took it from Raylin's hand. She was also able to absorb the whole gem, but this was likely due to her small size. "Look mama! Me and Kevin match!"

"Go play with daddy." Was all Maggie could say.

Begrudgingly, Tayler drained the excess taydenite and sulked out of the room.

Maggie snapped her attention to Kevin. "How did you end up getting all of it?"

Kevin shrugged. "I thought it was an age thing. A few years ago, I wouldn't have been able to."

Raylin turned over the taydenite. "Well, it isn't an age thing. You said you got this after growing spirals on your back?"

"Yeah. So?"

"You shouldn't have been able to absorb that much in the first place. Let alone now."

"Well, at the time, the guy he had this magic rope that made me absorb it."

Maggie spoke up. "The bastard. That wouldn't have changed anything though, using tech doesn't affect our abilities."

Raylin looked down, he seemed to be in deep thought. "Unless it was galvin tech. With lots of DNA in it."

Kevin thought back to when he first absorbed the omnitrix. He was crazy, but he remembered feeling powerful. He remembered Kwarrel teaching him how to absorb solids, which he could do with ease. But if it was the watch that had given him some ability, he would have known sooner. "Can't be the omnitrix. After the energy drained out of me I was left pretty much the same as always."

"There was never any feedback? Being around that level of technology has to have some sort of long term affect." Raylin suggested.

The explosion! The one that turned him into a medley of different solids, it was the omnitrix that kept him looking like a freak. He explained this to Raylin who nodded, and Maggie who smiled.

"This is fantastic!" she said, "We have a secret weapon."

"Me?" Kevin asked.

Raylin patted him on the back. "Yeah, you. The omnitrix gave you something that strengthened your powers. DNA, feedback, call it what you will. But the fact is, you can absorb more than most of us."

Kevin smiled, he liked feeling special. "So, the omnitrix turned me into a mutant and that's a good thing?"

"You're already a mutant, Kevin, it's what osmosians are." Maggie explained. "You're like an extra mutant."

"In a good way." Raylin added.

"Sweet."


	5. Chapter 4

Ben and Gwen spent a few days cruising around Bellview, trying to find some trouble. When there was nothing left but petty crimes, they drove to the fishing rock that they had both visited as kids. Gwen had let the issue of Kevin simmer since their last visit with grandpa Max, but the problem sat in her mind at all hours of the day.

"We really should do something." She brought up the issue.

Ben sighed. "Look, Gwen, I feel bad-really-about having to stay here. But it's a law."

"Since when have you cared about the laws?"

Ben thought about this for a while "You're right."

"And he's our friend."

Ben muttered to himself "And your boyfriend."

"Yes. Yes okay, he's my boyfriend. But that isn't the only reason why.."

"Don't kid yourself Gwen." Ben interjected. "You like to think that there's other reasons to go over there, but we both know it isn't true."

Gwen bit her lip. "Fine. I want to go over there." She looked at Ben and decided to add "For him," in order to reach some satisfaction from her cousin.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Ben smiled. "Let's go get Kevin."

"We can't just go. We need a plan."

"Let's take the ship. Then, I'll go all Rath on them!"

Her cousin's blatant disregard for her comment annoyed Gwen. It was just Ben being Ben, but this was a serious situation. "Do you ever listen?"

"Sorry, what?"

Gwen sighed. "Didn't you hear Raylin? Annodites aren't allowed within the atmosphere of the planet. We'll have to be sneaky. Rath is not sneaky, Ben."

Ben considered this. "Okay, but the rust bucket isn't sneaky either. It's pretty big, they'd see it coming."

"Cloaking device." Gwen suggested.

Ben shook his head. "Remember, it got damaged last week."

"Well that ship is all we have."

Ben thought about it. He considered what they might have to do. "Remember when we were stranded on that greenish planet with the weird horse things?"

"Malveck." Gwen interjected.

"Yeah, that. Well remember the new rust bucket exploded, so we were stuck. But then Kevin got us out?"

"Are you saying we need to borrow a ship?"

Ben was about to agree with her, until he realised that he knew something that she did not. "Uh, Gwen… Kevin didn't borrow that ship."

Gwen wasn't really surprised to hear about this, but she was a little off base as to where her cousin thought it would be helpful. "You want us to steal a ship?"

"Not necessarily. I'm saying we need to think like Kevin…he's good with sneaky stuff."

"Stealing." Gwen confirmed.

Ben thought this over for a while. "Maybe. I mean…not s_tealing s_tealing…just.."

"Stealing."

Ben let out a sigh. "Borrowing? We could borrow a plumber air craft with a working cloaker, fly into osmos, save Kevin, and be back for dinner."

Gwen laughed, Ben's cockiness always was too much. "But grandpa said we can't go. What makes you think any other plumber would let us take a ship?"

"SHIP!" Ben screamed. "We'll take Ship, I'm sure he could go invisible for a few seconds."

"Do you think Julie would let him go? Alone?"

Ben shrugged this off and rather than answering her, he walked to his car. "She adores me, come on."

Julie took some convincing, but once Gwen talked to her, Julie agreed to loan them her dog. She had several concerns, the biggest one being "Make sure he's safe," which was followed quickly by a "Make sure you're safe," directed mostly at Ben.

As they shot away from earth, Gwen felt a tightness in her stomach, the apprehension was building inside, and she became suddenly very worried about what they would do once they landed.

The next day, Kevin left the underground house with his aunt and grandfather. They were on their way to a base camp in what was once a capital city. There, he would receive his military training.

"Osmosians aren't built for fighting." Raylin explained to him.

Kevin let out a dark laugh "Yeah, this war sure shows it."

Maggie sighed. "He means that our powers are for maintaining matter. We redistribute it. We're the last hope for planets with any kind of shortage. When Dev and I were kids, there was a drought on the planet Piscciss. The citizens almost died. Osmos' response was a team of 100 osmosians, who each took a small amount of water and re-distributed it all over the planet. We can do great things!" She beamed. "If we aren't all going crazy."

"Thanks for the history lesson." Kevin added, rolling his eyes and looking out the window.

Maggie let out an annoyed sound "Oh my god, Devin, shut up!" She quickly realized her mistake and slapped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry, that's just…so something he would say."

Kevin's curiosity began to peak. He had heard his father mentioned several times over the past few days, and wanted to know how they lost track of him; considering how fond they seemed to be of him. When he repeated this information out loud, the other Levin's took it to mean that Kevin wanted to hear the story. They were right.

Raylin spoke first. "Devin was y only son. He was the first born, and I had a lot of expectations. Maybe I was too hard on him. I wanted him to grow up and be like me, a keeper. Keepers are the people who get to redistribute matter and save planets. I wanted him to be one. But he was always getting himself into trouble. It got worse when we were on vacation. Going to Earth for a little small planet hospitality, but Devin never liked to take things slow.

When we were away, he snuck out a ton, trying to liven things up on the planet. He managed to cause a few floods. In one of those floods, he saved a drowning girl, and they started hanging out. She worked at a diner, and for the next two weeks, that's the only place he bothered to be. He fell in love, harder than I'd ever seen him. He used his powers to impress her, and did whatever he wanted with them, regardless of the consequences. He was still a kid, only 17, and when he didn't want to go home, we had a fight."

Maggie cut in. "It got pretty bad, Dad told him that he was never allowed back there again, and that he had a duty to come home and live on Osmos forever. The next morning, he was gone, and… well."

"And we left." Raylin concluded abruptly. "I was too hard on him, and I figured he'd come to his senses sooner or later, and come back home. He never did. "

Kevin felt angry. He knew so many great things about his father, and what he did, all of the great things Kevin knew, were complete secrets to Raylin. He could feel himself getting angry, and felt that he needed to defend his dad. "You know, he became a plumber. One of the greatest ones." His voice was calm and even, but he could feel the anger rising in his chest.

Raylin looked down sadly.

"He died, saving a planet, and his friend. He went on missions where he stopped wars, and cured people, and fought against riots and helped people overthrow their rulers. HE WAS A GODDAM HERO, AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO KNOW!"

Maggie was crying, Raylin just shook his head.

"He was a hero." Kevin repeated pathetically.

Raylin took in a deep breath. "I know."

_**Sorry, the site wouldn't let me post for a while. **_


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